FOXBORO — Giving every player an equal shot isn’t just a quaint notion in New England; under Bill Belichick, a fairly high number of undrafted players have made the roster, from Pierre Woods and Corey Mays a couple of years ago to Randall Gay and Stephen Neal.

So, if he proves himself on the field, former Georgia Tech linebacker Gary Guyton has a chance to be with this team in September, drafted or not.

The 6-foot-3, 242-pound Georgia native garnered himself some attention yesterday with a great one-handed interception of a Matt Gutierrez pass in 11-on-11 red-zone work during the morning practice session. He’s been working at both outside and inside linebacker, and seems to be doing pretty well in all of the spots.

“Gary has been a very versatile player,” Belichick said. “He’s smart, he’s versatile athletically, he’s versatile mentally and he can handle a lot of different assignments. He has been active for us in the kicking game and he’s a good player to work with. We have good competition at that position and he is certainly part of it. He is a young guy who picked things up pretty quickly.”

Having “versatile” attached to your name is a great thing when it comes to the Patriots, and if he’s able to get a solid grasp on things, it will up Guyton’s value come cutdown time.

Guyton knows just one word since coming to New England: work.

“Even if I was drafted, I’d still have to work hard,” Guyton said. “Working hard definitely gets you where you need to go, so I’m just working hard and working hard, putting in time, putting in hours, working, working, working.”

All that work could end up paying off in a roster spot come September.

Belichick says thanks

In what seemed to be an impromptu move, Belichick surprised the fans after the morning session by signing autographs for at least 10 minutes. He received several big ovations, and at one point the crowd was cheering “Let’s go Belichick!”

The large majority of New England fans supported Belichick in the wake of the Spygate scandal last fall and since then he has mentioned his appreciation for that. Yesterday was no different as he spoke of his long connection with this region.

“I appreciate it personally, and for our team, the last year from the fans, whether it be here, or other places in the area, being in an airport or somewhere having someone come up to you saying something positive and all that,” he said. “It’s been really great since I came here and took the job in 2000. I really feel like I have a personal connection. I have spent a lot of time in New England, going to school here (at Phillips Andover and Wesleyan), living here, being here in 1996 (as a Pats assistant). I have always spent summers up here and it’s great. I appreciate it.”

Taking a pass

After a walkthrough during Saturday evening’s practice, the Patriots returned to full-pad sessions for the two practices yesterday. The evening session was forced inside the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse because of a thunderstorm that quickly descended on the area.

Some notes from the sessions:

•Tom Brady handed the ball off only in the morning session, leaving the passing duties with the first-team offense to Matt Cassel. Brady did take his regular passing reps in the evening.

•There was a great deal of work done in both practices on red-zone work. Jabar Gaffney made a nice touchdown catch of a Matt Gutierrez pass over Brandon Meriweather and Terrence Wheatley in the morning; Brady and Randy Moss had some nice connections in the evening, with Moss getting the best of rookie Wheatley.

•Reserve DB Antwain Spann had two interceptions in the second session, the first off Cassel and the second off Gutierrez. Both were on short passes intended for tight ends.

A history lesson

Belichick thinks it’s a great idea that all of the league’s rookies visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the offseason: “There are so many guys that have made the game so great for us. … Really, rookies need to understand that there was a game before they arrived. It didn’t just start when they showed up in town,” he quipped. … The Patriots removed G Nick Kaczur from the physically unable to perform list yesterday, leaving 10 players who still aren’t quite ready to get on the field. … DE Richard Seymour, LT Matt Light, CB Jason Webster and LB Vince Redd were not present at either session; TE Benjamin Watson missed the morning practice but was on the field in the evening, and TE Marcus Pollard took part in the morning but missed the evening. … The team again released OL Lav Bauta and signed OL Paul McMahon, who has been with five different teams since being drafted by Oakland in 2005 but has never played in an NFL game. … There is one practice scheduled for today, at 2:30 p.m.

smanza@projo.com